A dangerous endeavour
by AgentOfShip
Summary: Jemma has been harboring a big crush on her neighbor for months but when she decides to finally make a move and go talk to him, he doesn't exactly turn out to be who she thought he was. And I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil it but hopefully it'll be fun and fluffy.
1. Chapter 1

**So here's one more story with multiple chapters that I was planning to be a one-shot! But as always, I keep adding more and more and now it looks like it's gonna be around 12K words! And since I'm struggling to write the ending correctly, I'm posting this first chapter right now and hopefully the two others will be finished quickly. I mean it's not like after tonight I'll have a whole year to work on fanfics as I wait for season six to be aired ...**

It was ridiculous really. All of it. People just didn't have such a huge crush on someone they'd only seen a few times and hadn't even talked to yet. (Because apparently Jemma's friends had all decided to gang up on her and agree that him holding the elevator door open for her and her saying thanks and him nodding and smiling wasn't a conversation. The nerves!). All she knew about him was that his eyes were dreamy, his face was beautifully symmetrical, his hair made her want to thread her fingers through it AND he received several science journals in the mail every week. But somehow, somewhere in the back of her mind, Jemma knew that if she ever managed to strike up a conversation on anything that didn't concern the elevator's cleanliness or the light bulb that needed changing in the hallway, they would realize they have so much in common and slowly become friends and then fall in love and it would be a beautiful story to tell their gorgeous genius children.

But as her friend Bobbi had pointed out several times, Jemma Simmons didn't really like to live dangerously. She was always the first person in their group to do her taxes. Every year. She never had a speeding or parking ticket, couldn't even remember stealing a cookie from her grandma's cookie jar and certainly never been the one to ask a man out before. Which was, again, ridiculous, because she was a strong independent woman who could go about getting what she wanted, and if there was one thing she disliked even more than not following the rules, it was people telling her she wouldn't be able to do something.

So that was how Jemma Simmons found herself just outside her apartment at precisely 10:11 PM with a slightly forced smile on her face and walking decisively (at least she hoped that was how decisively looked like) toward's her gorgeous and mysterious neighbor's apartment. She was pretty proud of the plan she'd divided. It was in fact rather flawless if she said so herself. She'd waited until the shop around the corner's closing time and then waited eleven more minutes (ten would have been too suspiciously precise obviously) so she could go to her neighbor's and ask him for some sugar (not everyone had flour or eggs or even milk at all times but even if you didn't put sugar in your tea or coffee, you had to have one if you invited someone over). The ideal outcome would be that he asks her what she was cooking. To what she'd answer that she was baking cookies to bring to her colleagues and then she'd find a way to make the conversation stray towards something more interesting like the research she'd been working on and he would say he's also a scientist and the rest would be history. If he wasn't the kind to strike up a conversation so easily, no problem, she'd quickly make a batch of whatever cookie recipe she'd find on google with the ingredients she took the precaution to buy at the corner shop earlier that day, and then bring him one as a thank you and then he would definitely have to strike a bit of a conversation and, once more, the rest would be history.

Of course, there was one possibility Jemma Simmons didn't anticipate. Which really no one could blame her for because it was rather unexpected. Just as she was taking another deep breath and was finally about to knock on his door, it opened on its own. Or well, rather someone opened it obviously and she found herself face to face with a man that was definitely not her handsome mysterious neighbor. He was actually quite the opposite. Not very tall, quite skinny compared to him, with big blue eyes and if the short scruff on his jaw was any indication, rather fair hair to match his pale skin. (because his hair was hidden under a black beanie, which was really strange because it was mid-may and really not beanie wearing season).

The young man, who she didn't remember seeing in the building before, was looking at her with a slightly terrified look on his face while she kept that, now extremely awkward, smile on her face and neither of them were speaking. Well, they made quite the pair, Jemma thought and hoped that once she found Grant Ward's actual apartment, she, at least, would be able to talk. It was all very strange really, she was positive she'd seen him enter apartment 406 and never seen anyone else come in to visit or else. (Not that she spied on him, she just happened to have a good memory and remembered where people went to when she heard noise in the hallway and watched through her peephole. For security reasons of course. In case of burglars or … anything else.)

"Oh I'm terribly sorry." She started, finally finding her own voice. "I probably have the wrong apartment number, I thought this was …"

"Fitz! What are you doing? We can't go out through the door you idiot! We have to go back through the window …" Something hissed from inside the apartment, a woman apparently.

The man's eyes went even wider with terror and he started moving his head from Jemma to somewhere inside the apartment and back like a dog following a tennis match. A dog with horrible, Vietnam war flashback like memories of his last tennis match apparently. And that's when she noticed it. The man, Fitz most likely, did not only wear a beanie, he also wore gloves, black jeans and a black hoodie over a black t-shirt: the perfect burglar outfit. Or well, more specifically the outfit someone who'd watched too many movies would think is a perfect burglar outfit without taking into consideration that it was really warm out these days and that anyone wearing gloves, a beanie and a hood on, would look incredibly conspicuous.

Jemma was just wondering if she would be fast enough to run back to her apartment and lock the door before he caught her (he didn't look especially athletic while she'd been running 20 kilometers every week for the past few months) when he took the decision for her and grabbed her arm to pull her inside the apartment, her only reaction being a very undignified squeak.

-0-0-0-

"Hey hey hey, I-I-I'm really sorry I interrupted anything …" Jemma said in a voice that was way too high pitched to convey the calm, casual tone she'd been aiming for. "I'm sure nothing's weird going on here so I'm just gonna …" She tried to disentangle herself from his surprisingly strong grip but he didn't let her and just pushed her, quite delicately, and with a somewhat apologetic smile, to sit on the couch. Her first reaction was to pout and point out that she hated being interrupted but that didn't sound like a very useful thing to do. He still looked even more terrified than she was and she didn't know if that should reassure her or worry her even more. His mouth kept opening and closing and he was visibly trying to find something to say but the words just didn't seem to come out.

"Fitz! WHAT. THE. HELL?" The woman cried out when she came into the room from the kitchen and saw Jemma. She looked almost as terrified as her … friend? colleague? Could two fellow burglars be referred as colleagues? Maybe partners … Anyway. She looked just as terrified and actually wearing her black hood inside the apartment. So no professionals burglars, it seemed. Or just very bad ones. Or very new ones?

"Skye! Will you stop saying my name in front of …" He hissed at her while vaguely waving his hand in Jemma's direction. "… the witness …" He whispered, still perfectly loud enough for Jemma to hear.

"Well you just said mine you idiot! And why are you talking like that?"

"Skye's not even you real name and remember what we said about me being … you know …"

Jemma didn't think there was anything strange in the way he talked. Being an burglar and all, keeping your voice low seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

"Ugh honestly … you watch way too much television!"

"Hey. You don't complain about it when you use my Netflix account!" He cried out, apparently forgetting about the whole whispering thing.

Actually, if they looked a bit more alike, she'd be willing to believe they were siblings. In any case, they seemed rather occupied and Jemma saw her opportunity to try and escape. So she slowly got to her feet and started taking side steps towards the door. She'd actually almost made it to the door when he saw her and ran to pull her back inside the apartment and push her, this time not so gently, on the couch. "Sorry sorry sorry, you just … you can't leave. We can't let you …hum … oh god …" He mumbled but Jemma didn't hear much of it because she was really starting to panic now.

"I'm sorry. I promise I won't say a thing. I'll just go back to my flat and not call the cops and-and please please don't hurt me I didn't even want to come, my friends kind of made me and …" She pleaded, tears pooling in her eyes. It didn't exactly have the expected effect because, again, he looked horrified and … was he actually tearing up as well?

"What? No no no of course we're not gonna hurt you … ohgodohgodohgod..."

Wait … why did he have a Scottish accent now? A very convincing one at that … Did he have multiple personalities? Would one of them let her go? Oh god ... thanks a lot Bobbi! That's what you get for living dangerously … you get kidnapped by very incompetent mentally ill burglars!

"It's not what you think …" He continued. "We're not like … home invaders or something. We're not even armed. We wouldn't even know how to use a gun … Well technically that's not true, if I can design them I can probably use them but they wouldn't hurt you anyway because I'm specialized in non lethal … "

"Hu Fitz?" The girl, Skye, cut him off.

"Oh yeah … too much information …"

And now he was back to his American accent and Skye didn't seem alarmed by the constant switches from one to the other. So maybe not a split personality thing after all? But then what? Or maybe they were both mentally ill and escaped an asylum? Were they actually the killers from those urban legends everyone told when she was a kid? Well they didn't look like it, she'd imagined at least one hook for a hand (or was that another story?) and more dramatic circumstances: A storm outside or at least a bit of rain. Or even a black out to set the scene. Anything but two very unprofessional burglars dressed like teenagers really ...

"So what are we gonna do … now that she's seen us, she'll go to the police and then we're screwed …"

"Oh no I swear I told you, I won't go to the police, I won't tell anyone …"

Ugh! She couldn't believe she said that. They always said that in the movies and it was the stupidest thing. Of course once she was in safety, calling the police would be the first she did, and so all these characters in the movies. Were the bad guys really supposed to say: "Okay you look like someone I can trust, you can go." and the other to think: "Oh this criminal was so nice letting me go, I will certainly not break his trust and the special bond we have formed in the last two minutes. And so I will not call the police so he can carry on with his criminal activities."?

"We could just knock her out?" Skye suggested.

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

"Not too hard!" Skye answered, rolling her eyes. "Just enough to leave her unconscious for an hour or two … and we'd leave an aspirin and a bottle of water next to her … and I don't know maybe a … blanket … so she doesn't get cold …" She finished sheepishly.

"We're not in a bloody movie Skye … She might get a concussion or brain damage or or … or it might kill her. She won't conveniently wake up in two hours having forgotten what's happened here! And even then, we wouldn't leave her there with …HIM" Fitz insisted on the last word and Jemma wondered what that meant. What did they have against her gorgeous neighbor? They were the criminals, not him!

Well they were definitely not professional burglars but they weren't completely stupid or violent … or at least he wasn't.

"He's right you know … You see I'm a doctor, not a medical one, but still I'd really like not to be hit on the head and …"

"Fine! Fine … we're not knocking her out but then what?" Skye cried out at Fitz who looked just as lost as he'd been in the past ten minutes.

"I don't know! That was your idea!"

"Yes! To save your stupid ass Leopold!" Skye cried out, her hands on her hips.

"Skye! Just give out my address and phone number while you're at it, you idiot! Do you want my social security number as well?"

"Argh!" They both cried out at the same time and angrily walked towards opposite sides of the living room.

So maybe one of them was adopted? Or maybe his mom married her dad? Or vice versa …

They both spent a few minutes pacing and mumbling in their little corner. Jemma realized that she should have tried to go once more: they weren't armed, they weren't really big and didn't actually look very dangerous. But somehow, instead she found herself looking around the apartment of the mysterious Grant Ward and found herself … disappointed. It looked really cold with very little furniture, not a single poster on the wall or even bookshelves and not a trace of those very promising science magazines she saw in his mailbox several times. If she didn't know he'd been living here for at least five months, she'd thought he just moved in and didn't have the time to decorate yet.

"So hu …" Skye started after a while, turning towards Jemma and vaguely gesturing with her hand in her direction.

"Jemma .." She provided for her.

Wait! Why was she giving her real name? Was stupidity contagious?

"Jemma. Pretty name …" She said with a slightly forced smile she probably meant to be friendly. "How well do you know Grant Ward?"

"Not very well obviously!" Fitz said before Jemma could answer and both women raised an eyebrow at him.

"When she saw me at the door, she just thought she knocked on the wrong door. If she knew him well, she'd know for sure where he lives …"

"Oh … yeah … that's true actually …"

"So how do you know him?" Skye asked, giving Fitz a side smirk.

"She lives in the building …" Fitz replied once more and before Skye or Jemma could say anything, he added. "She doesn't carry a handbag or a jacket, just her keys."

"Well … good job Sherlock!" Skye grinned.

Obviously, he didn't do well under pressure but he was obviously smart and quite observing. She was a little bit impressed.

"So what were you doing here Jemma?"

"Ah hu … the thing is … you see …" God, she could feel herself starting to blush. She just wanted a little sugar, nothing wrong with that. Perfectly innocent. "I just needed a little sugar and I'd just ran out and … WHAT?"

Skye was grinning widely now.

"Oh I see what it is now! The good old "Oh the store has just conveniently closed ten minutes ago and I need a little sugar so I'm gonna go and ask my really hot neighbor to give me some …" Skye let out with an exaggeratedly husky voice that made Fitz roll his eyes and Jemma blush an even deeper shade of red.

"Whaaaat? No … no no no … I really needed the sugar!" Jemma protested.

"Oh really? What for?" Skye grinned.

"Baking …"

"What were you gonna bake?"

"Cookies …"

"What for?"

"Eat them … hey why am I answering your questions? I'm not the one breaking into people's apartments. I'm just innocently asking my neighbor for some sugar and yes I suppose he is somewhat attractive but that's not the point …"

"Honestly Jemma, even I know that trick" Fitz cut her off with a smirk.

Oh now they were on first name basis? Well for his defense, he didn't know her last name anyway and it wasn't like she was going to tell them that too … And also why did that smirk make her blush? That was only slightly attractive. Like 15-20 percents attractive at best and at least 80 percents annoying.

"Not that I would like … use it or anything but hum … yeah not very subtle …" He added, bits of the Scottish accent piercing through his American one so what was the real one already? "It's not like you need it anyway you're ….." The rest of his sentence was mumbled so under his breath that Jemma couldn't hear a word of it.

"Ugh okay fine! I'm guilty of trying to engage conversation with my attractive neighbor. Call the police!" She cried out as she flopped down on the couch. An extremely ordinary, uncomfortable and very disappointing couch. At this point, she didn't even want to escape anymore. They really didn't look dangerous at all. If anything, with her extensive knowledge of chemicals, she was probably more dangerous than they were. And now, she was kind of curious about why they were here acting like the burglars they weren't and breaking into the apartment of her, admittedly, hot neighbor who was apparently a lot less interesting than she thought he was if his apartment was any indication.

It was their time to blush and her time to smirk. Small victory really but she would take it anyway.

"Hey that's alright honestly. Good for you for … you know … going for what you want, girl power and all that …" Skye said, pumping her fist into the air rather unenthusiastically. "But you dodged a serious bullet there. Like a huge one, more like a canon ball honestly … If anything you should try hitting on that one" She added, pointing her thumb at Fitz with a grin. "He can't even get a proper compliment out without mumbling. Your flirting abilities seem equally abysmal."

"Ugh!" They both groaned but Jemma felt herself blushing just as Fitz looked down at his shoes in embarrassment.

Like she would ever date or even flirt with a burglar! No matter how strikingly blue his eyes were or how boyishly charming his face was.

"So?" Skye asked, turning towards where Fitz was sitting on a bar stool, the only other place to sit in the living area.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, opening and closing his mouth several times before standing up with a serious and determined expression on his face.

"We tell her the truth."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks a lot to everyone who commented on that first chapter, I'm really glad you liked it :)**

 **Hope you like that new chapter as well. The next one should be up tomorrow since I've decided to bury myself under fluffy fanfics to try and get those awful images of that horrible horrible finale out of my head! (I'm still not over the fact that it was almost the series finale gaaaah!)**

-0-0-0-

"She barely knows him, it's not like she's attached or anything. She might believe us." He said and Skye raised her eyebrows almost up to her hairline.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah … what have we got to lose anyway?" He shrugged and Skye just nodded.

"Alright then …" He said as he walked towards the couch to sit on it but as far as possible from Jemma as the couch allowed and that reassured her somehow. "So here's the thing …"

"Wait!" Jemma cut him off. That whole accent mystery was driving her mad, she had to know that before anything else. If she was to eventually believe what that man was about to say, she had to know if there was a reason for him to switch accents that way or if he was actually mentally ill.

"Before you tell me anything, I want to know what the bloody hell is your real accent!" Jemma cried out and Skye couldn't help snickering.

"Oh hum … that would be the Scottish one … I'm uh I'm Scottish … obviously ..." He said a little sheepishly.

"Okay … good … I guess ..." she trailed off.

And Jemma was actually glad that he was. She didn't often come upon someone from home and it was nice to hear. Even coming from someone who'd break into someone else's home. Not to mention that she always kind of had a thing for Scottish accents but she was definitely not going to say that.

"So hum … why the American accent then?"

"Oh hum I thought that if things didn't go as planned and someone saw us I would use another accent because at least they wouldn't be able to describe me as Scottish to the police … but then I panicked and I kind of forgot and then I thought maybe you didn't notice but … hum now you know my name anyway so …" He finally let out with another shrug and an awkward smile and Jemma couldn't help the small one that tucked at her lips.

Damn it. He was really cute.

From the corner of her field of vision, she could see Skye waggling her eyebrows at her and decided to ignore it. When did they go from kidnapper and kidnap …ee (no that wasn't right … kidnapped person maybe?) When did they go from kidnapper and kidnapped person to friendly banter and teasing?

"Okay …" She said. "I guess that makes sense. And I have to say the American accent was … somewhat convincing." She admitted and he grinned happily and, admittedly, rather adorably.

"I know!" He cried out. "Watched a lot of American TV growing up, lots of nice teeth and good sci-fi shows!"

"Oh yeah. Watched a lot of Star Trek myself, Battlestar obviously too ..."

"Original or ..."

"... original of course!"

"Of course!" He grinned enthusiasticaly. "But nothing really beats the Doctor in terms of creativity and diversity of scenarios ..."

"I know! Everything's a book adaptation these days or a reboot or a sequel and the writers on this show seem to have endless ressources in terms of imagination and it's been going on for decades now ..."

Fitz was nodding along to what she was saying with wide sparkling eyes and something that looked like awe and it had her stomach let out a tiny flutter of excitement.

"Yeah yeah that's what I've been telling everyone. So do you have a favorite? I know everyone does but I've never really been able to chose, I mean ..."

"Uh nerds? " Skye cut them off.

They both turned to her in synchrony and she grinned.

"Less flirting and more explaining why we're here before Ward gets home!"

"What? No we weren't ..." Jemma started at the same time Fitz mumbled under his breath again:

"Can't have a nice conversation with a beautiful woman without it meaning something else ..."

But he was blushing a bit and looking down at his lap. And he called her beautiful and Jemma found that she really didn't mind. It was always nice to hear, even coming from a potential criminal. A really cute one at that.

"Fitz …" Skye insisted. "Come on and make it quick, we don't have all night!"

"Fine fine …" He sighed. "So here's the thing. We're not thieves. Ward is."

"Okayyy …" Jemma trailed off. Fitz was visibly waiting to see how she'd react but that really wasn't enough to go on and decide if she was going to trust and believe this, admittedly cute, nice and not very threatening, complete stranger or the neighbor she had a crush on but actually knew even less about now.

"Hu I'm gonna need a slightly longer version of your story." She added and he seemed relieved that, at least, she didn't dismiss the idea altogether.

"Sure. Of course. Of course you need to hear more. So hum … I hired Ward as head of security for the company I created a year ago. He was surprisingly nice and we kind of became friends. He was acting all big brotherly with me so I trusted him. I guess he could see where my weaknesses were and I mean ... you're supposed to trust someone who's in charge of security anyway, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah I guess … What's your company doing?"

"Engineering, we design non lethal weaponry mostly and ..."

"And a lot of other really cool stuff." Skye cut him off. "And by we, he means I because he's doing all of it and the lab minions just follow his orders. He's a proper genius!"

It was sweet how proud Skye sounded, a perfect big sister really. If Jemma wasn't so increasingly curious to know more about this man -and about why he was here of course-she would have asked about them being potential siblings.

"I told you not to call them that, I'm not some kind of evil scientist or ... anyway" Fitz sighed, taking a deep breath and turning back towards Jemma with a small apologetic smile. "I trusted the man and he seemed interested in what we do so I showed him around the lab, gave him quite a lot of details about some of my schematics and he kept asking questions. And I should have suspected something because no one usually stands to listen to me for more than ten minutes when I talk about my work but it was so nice that I ... hum ..."

He looked so sad and embarrassed telling her that story that Jemma was tempted to reach out and touch his hand and tell him that she understood it more than he could imagine. That was why her circle of friends had always been quite small and why she never even once dated someone she, at one point, thought could be **the one.** None of them had ever been interesting or interested enough.

Those big blue eyes of his looked so earnest that she couldn't believe he was lying at that moment but still, she couldn't tell him right away that she trusted him, she needed him to tell the whole story and possibly give her proof. After all, she hadn't always had the best instinct concerning men. For all she knew, he could just be trying to fool her with his pretty baby face. But Jemma had always been naturally friendly and she just had to give him a small encouraging smile. It wasn't much but that seemed enough to help him find his words.

"Anyway, one morning three days ago, I came to work and found his resignation letter on my desk. I didn't understand because he seemed so happy with the job and I even wondered if I did something wrong so I called him but his line had been canceled and apparently, he'd given us a fake address too. That's when I started having a very bad feeling about it … Turned out all the schematics for the latest project I've been working on and just finished and was planning on getting patented soon, had just completely disappeared from my computer!"

He looked so angry and lost and disappointed that if he wasn't telling the truth, Jemma thought he might have a brilliant career ahead of him in Hollywood.

"So I called Skye who's head of IT in a big firm by day and hacker by night …"

"Hacktivist Fitz! I only do it for very good causes!" Skye cut him off with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah yeah okay, hacktivist … sure! Anyway I called her and asked her to find anything she could on Ward and some way to reach him maybe. Turns out he does this professionally. Gets a job as security or whatever in tech companies, befriends some of the employees and then steal whatever's worthy to sell it to other companies with unsavory reputations and very questionable morals."

"Oh wow … I-I … don't know what to say … but why not just copy your files? You wouldn't have noticed it until it was too late and some other company had gotten the patent before you could …"

"He knew it was a matter of days before I take care of it and I guess he thought it'd be safer to erase the files on my computer to make sure someone else had the time to patent it before I do or it would have been worthless to steal it anyway …"

"But that was quite risky too …"

"Of course but he's been doing that for a while and was probably confident I wouldn't find him before it was too late, that was without counting on Skye of course …" He said, turning around and giving his sister and/or friend Skye a bright smile that matched the one already on her face. "And not to brag about it but hum …" He added with a smile that somehow managed to be half shy and half smug. "… the risk would probably be worth it, my drones are worth quite a lot of money. I already have several interested parties and well … let's say money will never be a problem anymore after that …"

"Okay … so … what happened between that and … well now?" Jemma asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean why risk breaking into the apartment of a potentially dangerous criminal instead of just going to the police? Especially if you had proof?"

She wanted to believe them, she really did, but this all seemed so … just so crazy. Of course, Jemma knew these kinds of things happened in the tech and scientific world, that was why tech companies invested so much money in network security and security in general but she just never experienced it first hand.

"It was too dangerous. If he saw the police coming, he might erase it all before they could stop him and that's if they could catch him before he sold it or just moved out again. And even if they did, then it'd be proof and who knows when I could get it back? And then I'd lose all my potential clients and I don't think my company could take it, we're still very young …"

Damn his eyes, Jemma thought. He looked so desperate and earnest, it was hard not to be affected by it. Not to mention his whole story actually did make sense now despite how crazy it was.

"Fine ..." She finally let out, straightening up and turning to face Fitz more fully, giving him what she hoped was at least a slightly intimidating look. "Let's say I believe you … how can you prove it? What tells me you didn't invent that story or you're not the one stealing his work?"

"Wha … What? No, that's not …" He started with a completely affronted look on his face before taking another deep breath and starting again. "Fine, you make a good point. First of all, if you knew me, you'd know that I'm a really terrible liar and then, look around, does this look like the apartment of an engineer?"

Turning around and seeing once again how empty it was without even a proper desk and nothing but a relatively cheap laptop, she supposed he had a point.

"I mean you should see my place …"

"Fitz, I thought we said no flirting for now …" Skye cut him off, snorting at her own joke. Fitz and Jemma glared and sighed in almost perfect synchrony but that didn't have the intended effect because she just grinned even wider so Fitz rolled his eyes and turned back towards Jemma.

"Anyway … I could show you the schematics and explain them to you in details so you would know I designed them but hum … you probably wouldn't know if I'm not just talking gibberish so …"

"Actually Fitz …" Jemma said with a wide grin. "I think it's your lucky day …"

"Seriously guys, it's getting embarrassing …"

"Skye!" They both cried out.

"Ugh you guys are no fun …"

"Anyway, I'm not an engineer but I'm pretty sure my two PHDs in biochemistry will be enough to understand your design … as revolutionary as it might be …" She said with a defiant look in her eyes and slightly smug smile. The wide eyes and huge relieved smile on his face should have been enough to prove to her he was telling the truth but honestly she was rather curious about a design that was attractive enough for so many people to take risks stealing it or getting it back.

And so Fitz took his laptop and opened the files with the schematics and started explaining everything to her. Despite Skye insisting that Jemma stops asking questions because they really didn't want to linger here and wait for Ward's return, and that Fitz stops giving unnecessary details, (honestly Fitz who cares what stupid names you gave those drones?) they did go into quite a detailed explanation about Fitz's invention. In the end, Jemma was convinced of three things:

-First, he was telling the truth. He'd obviously designed those drones which meant his story had to be true.

-Second of all, it also obviously meant that Fitz was an absolute genius and without a doubt the smartest, most interesting man she ever knew.

-And last but not least, with the way his whole face lit up and his distractingly nice hands flew around him when he talked about science and the way he grinned boyishly when she repeated how impressive his work was, and really pretty much everything about him, she thought he might be the most adorable man she's met in a long time.

"Okay" Jemma simply let out when she saw the tense looks on both Fitz and Skye's faces and realized she must have remained silent for longer than she thought.

"Okay?" Fitz repeated with a slightly hopeful smile.

"Yeah I believe you, I think you're telling the truth about all this and I … I'm really sorry that's happened to you Fitz." She said, smiling at the way he seemed to let got of the breath he was holding.

"Oh my god thank you so much …" He let out in a sigh as he moved forward to engulf her in a hug she really didn't expect. The awkwardness of it was made worse by the fact that they were still sitting next to each other and with their knees bumping, the angle just wasn't right. And Jemma supposed she should have been bothered by it because she barely knew him but it felt so sincere and such an innocent gesture of both relief and gratitude that she couldn't help finding it kind of sweet. But she barely had the time to put her own arm around him and pat him on the back -to show her sympathy, not because he felt surprisingly solid and smelt really nice- before he pulled back and stood up from the couch, his cheeks pink and his eyes wide.

"Sorry sorry … I didn't mean to …" He tried to explain, wildly gesticulating his hands to, she supposed, mime a hug. "I'm just glad you-you … hum you know but you probably don't want a-a stranger …"

"Fitz it's alright!" Jemma cut him off before he tried to stutter his way through more apologies. "Really!" She insisted with a small smile when it looked like he was going to say more and he finally seemed to relax before shyly returning her smile.

"Well … when you guys will be done not flirting, maybe we could get the hell out of here? Unless any of you wants to explain to Ward why we're in his apartment?" Skye cut them off.

"Yeah yeah, let's pack it all and go!" Fitz said, clearing his throat and trying to sound more professional.

Jemma noticed he didn't try to deny he was flirting this time and that brought a small smile to her face. She watched Skye erase the files on Ward's laptop, check everything again one last time, do a couple more operations she didn't understand and then pack their stuff. Fitz put his own small laptop in his back pack, Grant Ward's one on his coffee table and Skye even went as far as checking out its exact position on a picture she supposed they'd taken beforehand. Obviously, they weren't professional burglars but they were certainly smart and she supposed they could become good at it if they wanted to. Which would have been a shame because they were both obviously really good at what they were doing and hopefully there would never be another Grant Ward scenario to force them into becoming burglars again.

God, Grant Ward … She'd been acting like such an immature teenager about him, fantasizing on his dreamy physique for weeks, imagining him to be some sort of scientist or at the very least someone interested in science enough to read pretty advanced science journals. Now she realized he must have read it only to befriend Fitz and she wondered what would have happened if she'd gotten to know him before she met Skye and Fitz. Would he have deemed her work to be worthy of being stollen? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought she could have dated a criminal. Skye was right, she really did dodge a bullet there. And now there was Fitz … He was quite the opposite of the tall, dark and handsome cliché she usually fell for but he was certainly unique and well, when had her usual type ever worked for her anyway?

"Well we're gonna go now …" Fitz cut her off in her musings, surprising her by standing so close to her. He was moving his weight from one foot to the other like a cat and he seemed unwilling to go. Maybe it was just wishful thinking but it felt like maybe he was at least as … interested in her as she was in him. Whatever form that interest could take.

"Oh … alright … So hum … you got your work back and erased it from his computer?"

"Yep …"

"So he's gonna get away with it? He'll just have lost a bit of time and will just move on to his next victim?" Jemma asked, feeling pretty angry and like it really wouldn't be fair but both Skye and Fitz smiled widely.

"Oh for that he will because that was our best option but …" Fitz started and turned towards Skye.

"… I made sure incriminating files concerning his previous thefts can now easily be found on his laptop and that he wouldn't be able to erase them AND I sent an anonymous tip to the police and the FBI insisting that he was also very dangerous so … hum … don't be surprised when you see several police cars in front of your building in the next few days."

"Oh … how very sneaky … and smart of you …" Jemma commented with a small grin and they both nodded.

Then a moment of silence settled and it started expending quite uncomfortably, the three of them looking at each other, their phone, their watch and then back at each other as Jemma was racking her brains to find something to say to make this moment last a little longer. Surely, she couldn't just invite them in for coffee? Or could she? Or she could stop being such a chicken, face possible rejection and ask to see him again. After all, her plan for the evening had been to get herself a handsome man's phone number. She could improvise and get herself another handsome man's phone number.

"So hum … it's been nice …" Fitz finally let out before she had the time to say anything and his own eyes went wide before she had the time to say she agreed with him. "I mean not-not the whole … kind of kidnapping you, I'm still really sorry about that and I would never do such a thing under any other circumstances and really you never were in any kind of danger anyway and hum … but the-the … the conversation, it's been really …"

"Yes, that was a really interesting conversation Fitz!" She cut him off and he looked at her with such gratitude that it made her her heart do a funny little flip in her chest again. "Your work really is revolutionary and it's been nice meeting you … both of you I mean …" She corrected herself, blushing and she could see Skye rolling her eyes as she grinned. Maybe she was right about them, they were equally terrible at flirting, if that was even what they were doing. Her friend had told her several times that she should be grateful she was pretty and had a lovely accent Americans liked so much or she'd make men flee with how awkward she got whenever she was interested in someone.

"Anyway, considering the circumstances, I'm willing to disregard the kidnapping part of the evening and focus on the nice conversation and you preventing me from dating a criminal!" She finished and he chuckled.

"So hum do you think …"

"Come on Fitz, if he's on schedule, he could be home any minute now …" Skye cut him off, taking his arm to pull him towards the window.

"NO YOU CAN'T!" Jemma cried out, realizing too late how overly dramatic that sounded. She wished she could be smooth and slip him her phone number with a flirty from-under-her-lashes look and hope for the best but clearly, that wasn't who she was. So instead she let the smart, two-PHDs-by-sixteen side of her take over so they would stop looking at her with such a confused and/or amused expression on their faces. "I mean you can't go out that way … very lively street, lots of potential witnesses and hu … security cameras … yes security cameras everywhere …" She finished, feeling rather proud of herself.

"Okayyyy …." Skye let out, raising a slightly disbelieving eyebrow. "But then how? We can't go out through the front door, there's at least two security cameras there."

"But the other side of the building's very quiet, very few people and no security camera that I know of …"

"How could you possibly know that? Why would you even pay attention to that? Wait … do you actually live in this building or were you here to rob someone as well?" Skye asked, looking half serious about it.

"Of course no! I just have a photographic memory that's all!" Jemma huffed.

"Wow you two should really …" Skye said, letting the sentence hang as she looked between Jemma and Fitz before shaking her head. "Anyway … how do we get to the other side of the building?"

"Through my apartment ..."

"Really? You'd let us inside your apartment?" Fitz asked with a surprised tone but a pleased smile on his face.

"Well … I think you've proven that you can be trusted so hum … yeah?"

Skye and Fitz looked at each other and had what seemed to be a silent conversation with their eyes until Fitz shrugged and she nodded.

"Okay then!" Fitz said.

"Great!"

Wait. Maybe she shouldn't sound so enthusiastic about it. It wasn't like they agreed to come over for dinner. They were just literally coming through her apartment, out of the building and quite possibly out of her life.

Once they checked that the hallway was clear, they quickly got out and after Fitz managed to lock the door to make it seem like they were never there, with a funny looking tool Jemma was really curious to know more about, she led them down the hall to her apartment. With all the adrenaline of helping out two (admittedly very well intentioned) burglars and the fear of actually running into Grant Ward as he got home from some super vilain secret lair or something, her hands were shaking and she couldn't seem to find her key as she frantically patted her jeans and cardigan's pockets for it. She could only imagine the ridiculous image she presented at this moment.

"Oh christ, where did I put those stupid keys …" She mumbled under her breath as she looked through the same five pockets again. "Hu Fitz. Do you think that super handy tool of yours would work in my lock?"

"WHAT?" Fitz squeaked as he seemed to be attacked by a pretty impressive coughing fit. Poor man must be pretty nervous too.

"You heard her Fitz …" Skye grinned. "She said she wants you to put your really great tool in her lock … do you think you could do that?"

Oh.

Now that was embarrassing. Was she really that desperate for her hormones to hijack her brain like that and make such an obvious innuendo?

"Oh no no no I didn't mean …" She tried to correct herself which was probably even worse as she was now most likely reaching the same deep shade of red she could see on Fitz's face. God, why couldn't she be smooth? Brush it off with a laugh and turn it into something amusingly flirty and not quite so crude?

Instead she kept on blushing until she finally found her key just as Fitz finally seemed to stop coughing.

"Never mind, I found my key!" She cried out, all too happy to have a reason to turn her back on them and focus on actually opening the door.

"Yeah … See Fitz … we don't need men to unlock our owww … hey don't pinch me you idiot!" Skye hissed and Jemma grinned widely.

"Here … come on in …" Jemma whispered, pulling them both inside and quickly but silently closing the door behind them. Which she only later realized was ridiculous considering how they'd been giggling and bickering like teenagers with no regards for how loud they were for the past few minutes.

She stopped to think for a moment then finally started walking towards her bedroom. "Come on" She said when they didn't make a move to follow her. "My bedroom's the best option …"

"Hu … you mean both of us right or do you want me to wait somewhere else?" Skye grinned.

"What? Well of course I mean … Ugh Skye!" She sighed. "Could you please stop that or do I have to pinch you too?"

"Well I'm not really into this kind of stuff but maybe you should ask Fitz if … ugh fine, lead the way …" She finally let out, looking like a child that's been chastised under both Jemma and Fitz's not very threatening glares. "You really are no fun …" She mumbled under her breath as she finally followed.

"See, the emergency exit leads to an even smaller pretty dark street, it'll be perfect for you. That's why I chose this apartment actually: lots of sunlight and a nice view from the living room but it's very quiet on the bedroom's side." Jemma said, sounding to herself as if she wanted to rent the apartment out to them. Well, she certainly wouldn't mind renting the bedroom to Fitz as long as she was still in it too. Or even just the bed really. Oh no. Skye was in her head now.

"That's nice …" The young woman said. "I chose my place mostly because I could afford it and the landlord didn't ask for anything but a week's payment in advance." She chuckled. "Actually I could afford something nicer now. How's the neighborhood?"

"Oh really nice. There's a shop around the corner, a nice coffee shop across the street, subway's really close and even the burglars are friendly!" She grinned.

"Hey, we're not burglars! We're just …" Fitz started with an affronted look.

"I know! I know, I'm just teasing …" She cut him off with a reassuring smile.

Once again they found themselves smiling awkwardly as they stood in her bedroom. At least she could always congratulate herself for being a little bit obsessed with cleanliness which meant her room was spotless and smelt fresh, her bed was made and there was no underwear lying around to make her feel even more embarrassed than Skye made her earlier. She'd always been terrible at saying goodbye at the end of an evening. Once she even pretended to have to run to catch the train she could hear coming from afar just not to have to explain to her date that she didn't want to see him again, and ended up riding said train for fifteen minutes before she decided it was safe to get out and cross over to the other platform to take the train actually going home.

Except this wasn't a date and she'd actually quite like to see Fitz again, which made it even more difficult.

"Okay well Jemma, thanks again for helping us and not reporting us to the police and everything but … we really have to go now!" Skye let out, anxiously looking at her watch and towards the window.

Of course, she couldn't delay them any longer. She couldn't put them in danger of coming face to face with Grant Ward as they left the neighborhood because she couldn't find the courage in her to make a move on Fitz, however small it may be. Fitz looked quite antsy and nervous as well so she supposed he wouldn't be very receptive to her awfully awkward attempts at getting his number or whatever and she was a terrible flirt under any other circumstance anyway but with the nerves, the adrenaline and a witness, there was no knowing what horribly embarrassing thing she'd be able to say or do.

She opened the window wide and passed her head to check that, as she thought, there was no camera and as it was the case most the time, there was no one to be seen. Skye went first, climbing through the window quite gracefully despite the big back pack she was carrying and after giving Jemma one last grateful smile, she started going down the ladder. A moment later, Fitz climbed after Skye, somehow less gracefully, but he didn't start going down immediately and instead looked at Jemma a little nervously. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and Jemma was about to ask him if something was wrong or if he really planned to say something but then he bent over the window and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks again Jemma, you're my hero …" He said with a bashful smile.

"Oh no … it's not … it's nothing really but hum … well good luck with everything Fitz …"

And then because he was looking at her with those big expressive blue eyes full of hope and fondness and, because she'd always been terrible at improvisation (she was much better at preparation), she also gave him a kiss on the cheek. The slight tickling of his stubbled cheek must have sent her an electric shock and short-circuited her brain because there was no other way to explain what happened next.

It seemed like only a second passed before Skye was telling him to hurry and by the time Jemma's brain started working properly again (because as always, it had apparently chosen the worst moment to go into energy saving mode), he'd already joined Skye down on the ground and they were walking away.

"That was it" Jemma thought, that was the perfect opportunity to tell a man she'd like to see him again. She just had a few words to say and the great thing was that at best, he wanted the same thing and they would go out on a date and become a couple and then she'd have an amazing story to tell at their wedding and her friends would never again tell her that she couldn't live dangerously. And worst case scenario, he wasn't interested and it would be awkward but then it would only last for a second and he would literally disappear into the night and be out of her life and she'd never have to see him again. It would be disappointing for sure, but at least she could tell her friends why she had another good reason not to take risks where men were involved anymore.

Instead she could still see his tiny silhouette walking away in the dark and felt like the stupidest most useless Disney princess looking out the window for the prince charming she'd never see again. So she did the only thing she could think of at the moment: she took a few steps backwards, turned around, flopped face first on her bed and screamed into her pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

To days later, when she came home from work, Jemma was not really surprised and actually quite relieved to see several police cars parked in front of her building. First of all because it meant that there would no longer be a criminal living in her building (at least she thought so, there were always strange smells she couldn't quite recognize coming from old Mrs Gordon's apartment so she wouldn't rule her out as doing something illegal completely) but mostly because that meant that her instinct had been correct and she was right to help Fitz. She clearly wasn't over the fact she blew out her chance for a potential promising relationship with Fitz (and would probably not be over it for quite some time) but at least she had good reasons to like him in the first place.

Stopping just across the street from her building, Jemma quickly decided to keep walking for just a few more meters and go get tea and a pastry from the coffee shop around the corner. She could sit at the table near the window and watch everything happen from there. She's had two pretty long and terrible days at work, only made worse by the lack of sleep (as she was too busy repeating the events of that evening in her head to actually close her eyes) and having to avoid Bobby to whom she'd said she'd go and try to talk to her neighbor. She'd probably tell her the whole story at some point but she didn't feel like it at the moment. Anyway, on top of everything, she really didn't need to come across Grant Ward as he was taken away by the police and she really didn't want to have to talk to the police because she was the worst liar and she couldn't imagine what would come out of her mouth if they ever asked if she knew something about Grant Ward.

So she settled in the comfy chair close to window, undisturbed by May (the coffee shop owner) and her quiet, relaxing presence, as she watched the events unfold. About half an hour after she walked into the coffee shop, she started seeing some movement, several police officers getting out of the cars, some getting into the building, others apparently standing guards around it and ten minutes later, it was over. Grant Ward got out of the building, his hands cuffed behind his back and escorted by at least five police officers. And that made her wonder if Skye exaggerated how dangerous he was or if he was, in fact, that dangerous and she dodged an even bigger bullet than she thought she did. Even though it was obviously him, he looked nothing like the charming and slightly mysterious neighbor she's had a crush on. His face was almost deformed by the hateful rictus on his lips and she couldn't believe she ever found his eyes warm when at this moment, he only exuded the coldness of a snake.

Jemma waited another two hours for all the police cars to have departed before she made it to her apartment. She spent the first hour reading that book she'd started weeks ago and still hadn't had the time to finish but when she realized that she had just read the same page for the third time without retaining anything, she gave up, closed her book and fished her phone from her handbag. She couldn't get Fitz out of her head and she, at least, needed to know if he really was as good as he seemed to be. Maybe it was just the adrenaline that made him so attractive because after all, she didn't remember thinking it when she saw him the first time. And maybe it was also because it was so late and her expectations were lowered that she found him so smart and interesting. So she just typed "Leopold Fitz engineer" into google and hoped for the best.

First, she found his profile on the MIT website and considering how young he looked on his graduating picture and the impressive amount of articles he published on both engineering and physics during his time there, he was obviously really smart, genius level smart even. Then she found a video interview he'd given six months ago to one of the few tech blogs she thought were serious and trustworthy. It was about the launch of his small company and even though it seemed like it was something he clearly wasn't comfortable with, he still managed to appear witty without ever being condescending and quite charming in his own awkward way. And obviously she clearly hadn't overestimated how handsome he was. Sure, he wasn't her usual type but who could possibly resist such strikingly blue eyes, adorable smile and gorgeous hands?

Of course, when she finally went home well decided to try and forget about him by catching up on the latest Doctor Who episode, the first thing she saw when she turned on the TV was her own building. Apparently, Grant Ward's story was big enough to make it to the news and if she still needed confirmation that she was right to trust Fitz, the reporter said that Grant Ward had almost immediately confessed to the crimes, talking about his supposedly terrible childhood and most likely already preparing his defense. Funnily enough, he confessed to everything except the theft of a small cargo consisting of unicorns plushes and figurines that happened three months ago. That was probably the lesser of his supposed crimes, which made it really strange that he would deny it, and adding to the fact that it didn't really fit the profile of his usual thefts, Jemma suspected that it was something planted in his computer to make up for the fact that he'd never be punished for stealing Fitz's work. Well … she couldn't say she really approved because it just wasn't the truth but that still brought a smile to her face because well … it was still kind of funny and would do nothing to help his big bad thief reputation.

-0-0-0—

As time passed, Jemma tried her best to forget about all of this, telling herself that in a few months or years, she'd simply remember it fondly as this time she helped this really nice guy get his stuff back from a bully and heroically helped him escape all while dodging the biggest bullet with her neighbor from hell. But even though she knew she should just store the missed opportunity with Fitz with the countless others she probably already missed because she was too scared to make a move, it was hard to see it that way for the moment. Especially since she walked by Ward's apartment everyday, remembering the pair of pretty blue eyes she did not expect to see when she knocked on the door that day. Also, she could almost hear the yellow post-it note with Fitz's company address and phone number on, making fun of her and calling her a chicken. It had only taken a minute to find those infos on his company's website and it's been sitting on her desk, gathering dust, for three weeks now.

At first she told herself that he'd be busy getting his drones patented and everything and she should wait for a few days before trying to contact him. Then she told herself it might be dangerous since she lived in Ward's building and the police might make the connection (which she knew was utter bullshit) and after the third week had passed, she had managed to convince herself he probably wasn't interested anyway, not to mention he might take her for one of those celebrity stalkers, the way she looked him up and found all these informations on him that made him sound even more interesting. After all he knew where she lived and he could contact her if he wanted to, he could also have asked her out that day AND he could have gone for a kiss on the lips instead of a kiss on the cheek. Granted, on any other day, she would have found it too much too soon but with the adrenaline and everything, she might have found it kind of romantic, however ridiculous the notion was.

And so here she was on a Friday evening, barely a few minutes after 10 PM, having sent one last text to Bobbi saying she wouldn't go out to the bar that night and she'd already changed into her old yoga pants and tank top for a Doctor Who mini marathon. Here was a man (well twelve of them really) who never let her down. Her ass had barely touched the couch when there was a knock on the door.

"Oh what now?" She sighed. This couldn't possibly be Mr Mitchell, she'd learned her lesson, no vacuum cleaner after 10 PM however dirty she thought the floor was and she'd been super quiet when she did the dishes earlier! She considered staying still until whoever knocked on the door thought she wasn't home and left, but her curiosity and good manners got the best of her. After all, some of her neighbors might need help with something and she was probably the only one not either already in bed or out to have fun.

Sighing, she got up and walked towards the door. She wondered for a moment if she should put on a sweater on top of the rather skimpy tank top she was wearing but decided against it. Whoever was willing to come knocking on her door at this hour would have to bear seeing a bit of skin. Even if it was Mrs Stevens who always gave her disapproving looks whenever she happened upon her after going out for a run in her shorts and tank top. Actually, she kind of hoped it would be her, just to see the look on her face as Jemma would keep, as always, a perfectly bright and friendly smile on her face.

So with that thought in mind, Jemma opened the door with a small grin tucking at her lips, without even bothering to look through the peephole. The sight she came upon was a very welcome one but clearly not the one she was expecting. It was most definitely not Mrs Stevens. In fact it was actually quite the opposite of Mrs Stevens but from his reaction, she was equally pleased of her decision not to wear a sweater over her tank top, although for very different reasons.

"Fitz!" She cried out, her small grin turning into a full blown smile. "What are doing here?"

"Ah hum you see … the thing is … I was baking cookies and I was wondering if I could borrow some sugar …" He said with that smile that was half shy and half pleased with himself and … damn he was just as adorable as she remembered him to be.

Jemma had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing in amusement and utter delight that she definitely hadn't imagined things. But once she managed to, she gave him her best innocent smile.

"But of course …" She chirped. "Let me get that for you." She added, letting the door open and turning around to go to the kitchen and actually get some sugar. She was quite curious to see how he was planning for this to get where she supposed he wanted it to go (or at least where she hoped he wanted to go). And well, if that gave him a view of how nice her bum looked in those yoga pants, it wouldn't hurt.

After she grabbed her box of sugar from the cabinet, she was tempted to ask him how much he needed to give the exact amount but honestly, however fun and kind of adorable this whole charade was, she didn't want to lose anymore time and wanted to get to the real reason he was here as quickly as possible.

He looked slightly panicked for a moment when she gave him the sugar. He'd obviously hadn't planned this further and was probably scared that she was actually taking him seriously. But then her smile turned mischievous and he let out a small sigh of relief before reciprocating it.

"Ah thanks … but you know I'm actually missing a few other ingredients …"

"Really? How strange … If that wasn't completely absurd, I would be tempted to believe you weren't planning to bake at all …"

"Ah yes, absolutely ridiculous. So hum I was thinking it may be simpler to go to a coffee shop, heard there was a nice one in the neighborhood…"

"Yeah that does sound more reasonable."

For a moment he seemed to hesitate and she took this opportunity to get a better look at him, her eyes having been quite focused on his face since she first opened the door. He was cute in the black outfit but he already looked young despite being the same age she was and the hoodie wasn't helping. But now he was wearing nicely fitted dark grey slacks and a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows that managed to highlight all of his best features (at least those she could see for the moment) : his eyes, his elegant hands and well formed forearms as well as his strong shoulders that nicely complimented his lean frame. She would probably never get to taste the imaginary cookies he wanted to bake that night but he definitely looked like a snack himself!

"So I thought maybe you could come with to show me where it is and I could buy you a cookie or whatever you want … you know as a thank you for being so … neighborly …"

"Hum … " She pretended to think about it. "But you know it's a really dangerous neighborhood, there was even a criminal living in this building … maybe it'd be safer to stay home tonight …"

She thought the way she smiled seductively and moved aside as an invitation were clear enough signs but she regretted immediately because his face fell as he obviously took her suggestion for rejection. God, they really were equally bad at flirting. And reading signs from the opposite sex apparently.

"Ah hum … okay then … maybe I should leave you alone. I shouldn't have …"

"Oh God you're such a nerd! She's not rejecting you, she's inviting you in!"

The voice cut Fitz off before Jemma had the time to do so and since she couldn't see anyone in the hallway, she supposed it came from one of the apartments. Also it sounded a lot like …

"Skye I told you not to spy on us you creep!" Fitz cried out towards what Jemma supposed was Ward's old apartment, because why would Skye be in any one of her other neighbor's place?

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you could ask a girl out properly …"

"Well I got this now so please, please leave us alone …" He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Yeah sure you got this …" Jemma vaguely heard as Skye's voice grew smaller as she moved away from the door.

Fitz still had his face hidden behind his hands in embarrassment so she decided to take the next step. As a fellow terrible flirt, she could only sympathize, not to mention that he had the courage to come and ask her out in a way that was at the same time awkward, adorable and really quite unique and he deserved her to join him in the middle.

Gently grabbing one of his hands and pulling it down until he had to look at her, she gave him a warm smile.

"Hi" She said.

"Hi …"

"So … Skye was right you know. I was inviting you in …"

"Yeah?" He asked, an adorable hopeful expression on his face.

"Yeah … and hu … was that you trying to …"

"… ask you out? Yeah, yeah it was …"

"Well I'd really like that but the coffee shop across the street will be closing in half an hour and I do have everything we need to make peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies here so …"

"Oh … that does sound really nice and delicious …" He grinned. "The cookies of course but mostly you know ... your company …" He added before his eyes went wide. "I mean your company is nice, not delicious, I wouldn't dare … I mean it's not that you're not …, just … oh god kill me!" He finally sighed, letting his forehead hit the wall and Jemma couldn't help laughing this time.

"That's alright Fitz I get it and it's sweet of you to say either way!" She said between two fits of laughter. Then she took his hand and pulled him in until she could close the door. She didn't need any more witnesses to this very awkward display of terrible flirting and she kind of liked having him inside.

Oh … Thank God she didn't say that out loud.

"There's beer in the fridge if you like, I think you could probably use the social lubricant …" She said and he mock glared at her. "And I just need a minute to change into something a little less comfy, you look so handsome dressed like that and I-I really feel underdressed here …" She added and she didn't know which one of them was blushing the most between the two.

"Oh but you don't need to, I think you look perfect like that …" Awww. Adorable. "really nice and hu …"

"Delicious?" She suggested with a saucy grin and she could see the blush deepening on his cheeks and the tips of his ears, making him look even cuter. Not to mention the way his eyes quickly travelled south towards where she clearly wasn't wearing a bra under her tank top and back up, looking mightily guilty and possibly even redder. That look coupled with his flushed face was filling her brain with all kinds of thoughts that were definitely not fitting for a first date but they were really nice nonetheless and she was also definitely storing them for later.

"Jemmaaaa …" He whined. I swear I didn't mean it like …"

"I know I know I'm teasing …" She said and because he was just too damn cute blushing like that, she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before adding: "But if this is a date, I want to wear something a bit nicer …"

"Okay then …"

"I'll only be a minute, help yourself with the beer and get one out for me yeah?"

He nodded and started walking towards the kitchen as she went to her room. But just before she closed the door, she called out his name.

"But whatever that meant, the feeling is mutual Fitz …" She said and finally turned around and closed the door before she could see his reaction or he could see her blushing to the roots of her hair. Half of her was embarrassed for being so forward and the other half was actually quite proud of herself for being so smooth. Also there was another voice in her head, one that sounded suspiciously like her friend Bobbi and now also a bit like Skye, that told her that now she just needed to change into her birthday suit and there would be no need for any kind of smooth talking. But she definitely wasn't ready to be this bold and seeing how red he'd become at a relatively innocent compliment, she thought there was a real danger for his head to explode if she did that.

Shaking her head, she took a few steps in and opened her wardrobe, going directly for the summer dresses. It was warm enough now that she could wear one without feeling underdressed and it would be casual enough that it wouldn't look too much since they were only staying home to bake cookies after all. Quickly flipping through the few choices she had, she decided on the light blue one with a cute cupcake pattern on it. She always felt light and pretty with that one AND it would match Fitz's shirt. She liked it when things matched.

"So Skye lives in the building now?" She cried through the door as she divested herself of her clothes.

"Ah yeah …" He started. She was glad she didn't stun him to silence with her very flirty remark or her kiss. When he started talking again a few seconds later, his voice was cleared and she supposed he got a bit closer to the door so he wouldn't have to shout. "She was serious when she said she was looking for a new place and since this one was free and no one would take it since people thought it was a crime scene … well …"

"Ah I see … well good for her, it truly is a lovely neighborhood …" She answered as she started rummaging through her drawers to find a bra. After weighing her options for a moment, she decided to go for cute but comfy instead of full on lace lingerie. She definitely wasn't planning on going THAT far tonight whatever that annoying little voice and, admittedly, her own hormones, were shouting at her to do.

But she still grabbed matching knickers to go with. One could never be too prepared. And that also was why she congratulated herself for shaving her legs the previous day before she went for her evening run but regretted not taking her shower immediately after getting home tonight.

After a quick look in the mirror and having decided she looked okay, Jemma took a deep breath, opened the door and crashed right into Fitz. She hadn't realized he'd gotten this close to the door and he actually had to put his arms around her to stabilize her so they wouldn't both lose balance and end up on the floor. Which could have been kind of funny and romantic if Fitz didn't have two freezing cold bottles of beer in his hands that made her shriek and jump away from him as they touched the skin of her back through her very thin dress.

"Sorry sorry sorry … I didn't mean to … It's just I couldn't hear you from the living room and hum … oh wow … you look really … hum … delicious?" He finished a bit sheepishly but with a small tentative and flirty grin tucking at his lips. "And I mean literally because hum … cupcakes … but also well … you?" How someone so nervous and jumpy managed to organize a burglary, even if he was technically only getting his own stuff back, she'd never know. But there was something strangely endearing and attractive about the way his intelligence and playfulness showed through the thick layer of his shyness and general awkwardness. That wasn't something she thought she'd ever noticed in a man before, certainly not in the type she usually dated and she was starting to believe she'd always been wrong in her choice of boyfriends. Because even though she only knew him for a small amount of time and hadn't spent a lot of time with, she felt like she'd never get bored with him.

"Fitz, it's fine really and hum … thank you …" She said as she took the beer bottle from him with a wide enough grin that she hoped conveyed she was thanking him for the compliment as well as the beer. "So hum … unicorn figurines? Was it Skye's idea?"

"Ah hum … mine actually … I'm not exactly proud of it …" He said with a big smile that contradicted his words. "But since he wasn't going to be punished for what he did to me I thought I'd leave him a souvenir … the funniest part being that he probably doesn't know that unicorns are …"

"The symbol of Scotland! Of course!"

"Yeah …" He grinned. "So he'll never know that it was me … and even if he did it's not like he'll be able to say I did it without also having to mention stealing those schematics from me too so …"

"Well that was some really smart and sneaky thinking there Fitz …"

"And when I say that I did it" He cut her off. "I mean that I saw the story on the news and asked Skye to plant the infos on his computer as a little revenge, not that I actually stole those figurines!"

"I know …"

"You do?"

"Yes Fitz. From now on please assume that I will always trust you to be honest and to have good intentions unless I specify otherwise." She said, rolling her eyes fondly at the way he kept thinking she'd always assume the worst of him whatever he did or said. Granted, they didn't meet in the best of circumstances, but she thought that by inviting him in her apartment, it was a given that she trusted him now.

"Okay then I … Do you mind talking about you now? Or more precisely your work. Cause I read your paper on dendrotoxins and it's fascinating and I've been dying to know about … What?" He stopped himself when he saw her eyes go a bit wide.

"How do you …"

"Oh yeah of course, you're wondering how I even know you wrote that paper, right?" He cut her off before she could get the question out.

"Yeah …"

"Okay full disclosure … I've been kicking myself for not telling you I wanted to see you again that day and then in the weeks that followed I almost came knocking on your door hundreds of times but I was really busy finishing the last tests on my drones and taking care of the patent and the more I thought about it well ... the more I got convinced that since you were attracted to Ward, you couldn't possibly be interested in me … physically at least … "

"Oh Fitz no that doesn't …"

"But I was okay with it, you seemed so smart and pretty amazing really, your friendship would have been enough but still … I kind of chickened out. But a week ago, Skye moved in and she gave me your full name that she saw on the mailbox and I hu … I only meant to look up what was your job exactly and maybe a few things you might have published, nothing weird … but then I found your profile on the Cambridge university site and one thing lead to another and I kind of read everything you published that I could find online and I hu … it's all so brilliant I just had to talk to you …" He finished a little sheepishly. "Also Skye kept insisting that you might be interested in more and I just had to know … if only just to shut her up!"

He was probably mistaking the surprised look on her face for something other than the utter fondness and delight she was feeling because the poor thing looked really embarrassed and like she might ask him to leave any second. "A bit creepy isn't it?" He added with a self-deprecative smile.

Looking towards her desk in the corner of the room, Jemma could still see the small yellow post it note with the name, address and phone number of his company that she'd been too coward to use. And she knew that if she turned on her laptop, she'd find the papers he published and that she didn't have the time to read just yet, properly saved in a folder on her desktop. And then, she thought back on all the time she spent analyzing everything that happened that day and the way she kept changing her mind about what to do and really, they did make quite the pair.

When she turned back, he was looking at her a little worryingly but also with hope and a good deal of admiration and her heart made a funny little flip in her chest. Surely such a bright mind coupled with a face that could express so much in one simple look was worth all the muscles and square jawed faces in the world.

And so Jemma Simmons took a decision. A few weeks ago she set out to be bold and risk rejection, mostly to prove her friends that she could. But now she realized that wasn't a good reason. She should put herself in danger because a little danger was certainly worth it if it got her what she wanted. Like she should have asked Fitz's phone number before he left or like she should have used that yellow post it note weeks ago. But right now, she was given another chance to take a little risk to get what she wanted. And what she really wanted at the moment, more than anything else, was to kiss this adorable man in front of her.

So taking a deep breath, she took the few steps separating them and stepped up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. He was surprised for only a second but then he was humming in approval and kissing her back and it was perfect. His hands going to her hips to steady her as hers slowly went up from his shoulders to his face and his hair. The kiss was sweet at first and she could feel the taste of beer on his soft lips as they moved against each other's effortlessly. But when she broke the kiss and started to step away, he didn't let her and instead pulled her back into a deeper, more passionate kiss. He completely engulfed her in his warm embrace, his arms around her waist holding her close and steady and she couldn't hold the little squeak of both surprise and pleasure she let out then. As she melted into him, she thought that Fitz tasted like cozy evenings at home, passionate nights, lazy sunday mornings in bed and even like that cute little cottage in Perthshire she always dreamed of, all wrapped up together and really, the opposite of danger.

But danger was overrated anyway.

And then, he finally broke the kiss, pressing one last light kiss to her lips and then one to her forehead before stepping away just far enough to look at her. His eyes were sparkling with joy and not a small amount of desire and his smile was radiant, lighting up his face in a way she hadn't seen yet on him but would be willing to do anything to see it again.

"Well scratch that" She thought as she had no choice but return his smile with a bright one of her own. She was now in real danger of falling for him and she already knew she would embrace those feelings without a moment's hesitation.

 **And that's it for this story, hope you enjoyed it :)  
And now I'm back to writing fluffy fanfics and living in denial for the year to come !**


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